Paul butler



To all whom it may concern.-

PAUL BUTLER OF LOKVELL, MASSACHUSEYF ouueownsu.

SEECIFICATION forming part of Letters Tratent No. 418 ,552, dated December 31, 1889.

Application died October 18, 1883. Serial No. 109,328. (No specimens.) I

. Be it known that 1, PAUL BUTLER, of Low ell, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvemeiitin Gunpowder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to powder for use in tire-arms; and it consists in the manufacture of such powder from fulminate of mercury by the mixture therewith of soapstone, substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

1 am aware that various substances havebeen mixed with explosive compounds of that kind to enable them to be used to better ad vantage in fire-arms; but all of such substances heretofore used for that purpose fail elfective gunpowder be thus made which takes less space in the chamber of the firearm,mal cs less noise in firing, gives compa tively no smoke from the discharge, does'not out or foul the barrel, and, what is most important of all, requires nolubricaut in the barrel of the gun to keep it clean in use,

while being perfectly safe to use, as the pow-- der does not decompose in keepingthe cartridge-shells loaded, so as to detonate and burst the gun.

The soapstone may be mixed with the explosive material to form the gunpowder in various proportions and with various kinds of explosives of the variety I have indicated and give good results, and with diiferent bindinp mediums; but I will state two equivalent methods "of mixing it with such an explosive to form gunpowder, which I have practiced. with the results above mentioned and tested cxtensivel in tire-arms for parlor guns and target practice.

To form my gunpowder from the soapstone I take two and one-half pounds of wet fulminate of mercury and mix the same thoroughly with onepound of dry pulverized soapstone.

This mixing should be done immediately be' fore the gums forming the binding medium are added, and if the mixture is allowed to stand for any considerable length of time it should invariably be remixed before such gums are added, to avoid the danger of the fulminate and soapstone becoming separated. I then take one gill of gums, so called, composed of one-half ounce of gum-tragacanth and one ounce of guntarabic dissolved in water and mixed well together, and mix the same with the powdered soapstone and fulminate, and when sufiiciently and properly intermixed (and dried, if desired) thesame forms a goodand efficient gunpowder for use'in firearms. 7

Another equivalent form of using the powdered soapstoue,and the one which I prefer, is as follows: Take eighteen parts of wet fulminate of incrcury'and'mix with five parts'o'f dry pulverized soapstone. Then immediately take two parts of black gunpowder and form a paste of it by adding a proper quantity of water; and mix the samewith the mercury and powdered soapstone in the ordinary manner, when a good powder for fire-arms will be producedpossessing the aboveonentioned qualities; The black gunpowder in this mix ture performs the same office of a binding medium as the gums ill the precedingione in rendering the compound fixed and stable for any length of time, and also adds to its bulk, which. renders it more convenient to load into oartridgcshclls. This proportion of ingredients is especially adapted for use in small cartridges intended for use in parlor-guns, so called. If the powder-is to be used in larger cartridges, it may be found to be better-to mix a larger proportion of the powdcred soapstone with bileiulniinate, according to the increased size of the charge to beused and the quickness of action desired for the powder; but the best proportions can be easily determined by experiment.

The above description will enable a skilled workman to produce my soapstone powder with proper care. Froniits lubricating qualies the soapstone will not only be found to give superior qualities to the gunpowder when made, but will also be safer to mix with;

'der, being also less liable the explosive usedin manufm uring the pow- Lhan other sub: stances to cause the fulmin'ate to explode or detonate, from the absence of all gritty particles .in it and on account of the absorptive qualities of the soapstone.

In usii'l'g my soapstone powder I take a quantity sufficient to fill about one-fourth of the space occupied in the cartridge-shell by common black gunpowder for the same firearm, and charge the shellin the usual manner.

Instead of powdered soapstone, other forms of talc possessing the same lubricating qualities may he used, asJ do not confine myself to soapstone alone, the essential feature of my improvementbeing: the lubrication of the barrel by it.

'het I claim as new and of my invention 1s- 1. A gunpowder for lire-arms, composed of 20 fulminat of mercury, pulverized soapstone, and a Suitable binding material, substantially as desc ibed.

2. A ghinpowder for fire-arms, composed of fulmin te of mercur pulverized soapstone, 25' and black gunpowder as a binding material, substantiallv as described.

DAVID HALL RICE, N P. OCKINGTONw 

